Love Island USA gives viewers the chance to cast their votes throughout the season — but how does the process work?

The hit Peacock series follows a group of singles who must pair off in order to stay in the show’s luxury villa. The contestants — referred to as Islanders — live in isolation in a villa under constant video surveillance. They must be coupled up to remain on the show and earn a shot at the $100,000 prize.

While the islanders are filming nonstop for weeks, viewers are watching daily episodes and casting votes via the app that affect the couples and the fate of the contestants.

Voting for season 8 originally opened on Monday, June 9, but users were met with glitches and a message that read “network error” after opening the Love Island application on their phones.

“Vote tonight to choose which Islanders the new Bombshells — Sol, Jen and Caleb — should couple up with!” read the initial post from the show’s official Instagram account. “Voting opens at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT and closes at 1 a.m. E.T./10 p.m. PT. Voting is open in the U.S. only. Link in our bio.”

After voting closed, Love Island USA posted an update on Instagram addressed the issue, which read, “For those of you experiencing issues registering to vote, we apologize for the inconvenience. Our team is actively working on it. Stay tuned for updates.”

There was another clarification after the app crashed.

“Your overwhelming enthusiasm for America’s first vote caused the app to crash. But don’t worry, we are extending the voting window until 3 pm ET / 12pm PT on Wednesday, June 10!” read the new post.

Before viewers tuned into season 8, Peacock also issued a message to remind the audience to be kind.

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“The Villa runs on good vibes, and so does this community. We love seeing your reactions, opinions, and debates, but everyone deserves to feel safe and respected,” read their statement. “This is a space for fun, not negativity – so keep it kind, keep it positive, and remember: this is LOVE Island!”

New episodes of Love Island USA are released six days a week — except for Wednesdays — on Peacock.

Join Us Weekly and Bracketology.tv in our first-ever Love Island USA fantasy league! This is your chance to predict who you think will win Season 8 and rank the Islanders weekly based on how confident you are that they will survive the next elimination. You will be playing against our editors, get access to exclusive content and have the chance to win fun prizes. Sign up for free today!

By TeeJay Small
| Published 26 seconds ago

If you’ve spent any time at all browsing social media in recent years, you’ve definitely encountered the claim that older TV shows, movies, and games simply “couldn’t be made” today. The argument is that modern audiences are just too sensitive to handle the rough-and-tumble jokes that the Nixon or Reagan era handled with so much grace. Rainn Wilson is the latest voice to join in this insufferable chorus, having recently sat down with Fox News. Per X, Wilson expressed “I do feel like you couldn’t make The Office today. I think that would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was.”

Nobody Is Clutching Pearls Over The Office

Personally, I’ve always found this line of reasoning to be idiotic. Sure, on occasion I’ll sit down to watch an old film without my nostalgia glasses on, and find myself gasping at the rampant homophobia, misogyny, or racism on display from characters we’re meant to like and agree with. Even still, most of the jokes from older projects hold up just fine by modern standards, and offensive humor is very much still alive and well. In fact, I’d argue that the average episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia or South Park is significantly more politically incorrect than anything from The Office, and those shows seem to be doing just fine.

The fact that Rainn Wilson is referring to The Office in his recent comments is perhaps the most baffling part of this entire discourse. In fairness, it has been a few years since I’ve sat down to binge the show, but I really don’t recall anything offensive or boundary-pushing occurring within the Dunder Mifflin bullpen. Michael Scott offers a few awkwardly-placed racial jokes at the expense of Kelly, Oscar, and Darryl, but it’s nothing more jaw-dropping than the stuff you’d hear in a traditional work environment.

This bizarre take seems to stem from the idea that young people today, primarily those who lean left of center, are put off by patently bigoted material. Sometimes, these audiences can amplify their positions to the point of absurdity, and call something bigoted when it was really just a good-natured joke with a bit of edge. But, the idea that this is new is baffling to me. Decades ago, it was the conservative christian crowd chomping at the bit to cancel anything and everything. Television shows, films, and rap artists were picketed for foul language, suggestive nudity, or the mere suggestion that conservative Christian values could be questioned in any capacity.

From the 1930s through the 1960s, movies and TV shows were strictly governed by the Hays Code, which prohibited a wide array of so-called “offensive” materials. Landmark TV moments that broke the mold include Captain Kirk smooching Lieutenant Uhura, (a black woman) on Star Trek: The Original Series and a married couple from The Flintstones sleeping in the same bed. For contrast, Always Sunny characters now frequently drop the C word on FXX, while South Park shows off photorealistic deepfake sequences of the sitting president’s teeny tiny wang.

Art Is Getting Away With It

Every time I hear someone espouse this notion that they can’t make jokes because of cancel culture, my first response is to ask for some examples. So far, I’ve yet to hear a single joke that would be deemed “too edgy” for modern audiences. Sometimes people will respond with bits from Blazing Saddles, or show me the blackface scene from Trading Places. But those movies continue to air on television today, exactly as they were produced. In fact, you can pull up regular daytime cable and watch films that blatantly violate the Hays Code of yesteryear, in between car insurance ads and children’s programming.

Modern politics have become extremely divisive, leaving audiences significantly more polarized than they were back when The Office was in its heyday. Still, I just can’t see liberals foaming at the mouth over Michael Scott misusing urban slang, or MAGA voters writing in to the network because they had to bear witness to a desegregated workplace. I think every joke told in The Office, and in fact, in all popular movies and shows of decades past, would survive just fine on today’s radar. Plus, there’s a new Office spin-off series or foreign remake being produced just about every year, and those rarely receive negative press.

The classiest ladies don’t lounge in old T-shirts and sweatpants. They do what Jennifer Lopez just did: wear coordinated outfit sets that are just as comfortable but much more polished. Somehow, we found Lopez’s two-piece style on sale for just $43!

Strolling out of her Paris hotel, Lopez made a loose beige lounge set look like front-row couture, especially since she finished it off with a mini Birkin bag. With relaxed shoulders, wide-leg pants and a creamy neutral palette that flatters any skin tone, Lopez’s outfit is pure rich mom, and this Amazon version hits every note.

Get the Prettygarden Two-Piece Lounge Set for $43 (was $56) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication but are subject to change.

This Prettygarden Two-Piece Lounge Set channels the same slouchy, expensive-looking energy, featuring an easy V-neck sweatshirt top and wide-leg pants that create a flowy, intentional silhouette. Nothing frumpy here!

Better yet, the cotton-blend fabric has a drapey lived-in feel. It’s breathable enough to wear year-round, so you can wear it indoors all summer and still rock it through fall and winter. The combo is especially perfect for travel days when the plane turns arctic. The layering possibilities are endless!

One five-star shopper described the set as mega flattering.

“I am eight years bariatric post op, never had skin removal, so I’m always looking for outfits to help camouflage what’s underneath . . .” they said. “The top is so perfect living out in the desert of the Pacific Southwest . . . you still wanna wear sweatsuits that don’t make you feel hot. Believe me, you can so wear this out of the house with some cute sneakers and nobody will know it’s a lounge set.”

Clearly, this pairing is an easy, put-together outfit that goes from a transatlantic flight to brunch without missing a beat. Add big sunglasses, a structured bag and a swipe of lip gloss, and suddenly you’re not running errands — you’re having a J.Lo moment!

Get the Prettygarden Two-Piece Lounge Set for $43 (was $56) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication but are subject to change.

One simply can’t get enough of thriller movies. Fast-paced, heart-pounding, and packed with twists and surprises, the genre feeds off the reactions of audiences as they are pulled to the edge of their seats. A good thriller delivers suspense, but an excellent one reinvents classic thriller elements, all while staying relevant to the anxieties of the era it was released in.

Whether it’s the effects of corporate culture, a rookie police officer taking on 30 levels of criminals, or a chef who’s sick and tired of serving uppity patrons, these movies show that there’s more than one way to deliver the adrenaline. That said, here are 10 intense thriller movies that are perfect from start to finish.

1

‘One Battle After Another’ (2025)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

What happens when a revolutionary loses his spark? One Battle After Another introduces us to Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former demolition expert for a militant group who, 16 years later, has become a jaded single father to the teenage Willa (Chase Infiniti). But when a secret is revealed about Willa’s true origins, she goes off the grid, prompting the washed-up Bob to reignite the fire he once had.

One Battle After Another has the makings of a classic thriller. However, there is a refreshing comedic edge to him. Considering that he’s not as energetic and physically limber as he used to be, he falls and stumbles as he evades the cops. Bob can barely run without losing his breath, but with his daughter kidnapped, he’s not catching a break anytime soon.

2

‘Sinners’ (2025)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Sinners refuses to be boxed into conventional thriller norms. When twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) open a massive juke joint on the outskirts of town, the last thing they expect is for a group of vampires to crash the party. As the night wears on, these undead intruders begin turning the brothers’ human guests one by one.

Historical, breathtaking, and full of movement, Ryan Coogler has a knack for using horror to bring up broader themes like racial identity and systemic oppression. In Sinners, blues music serves as the voice of the marginalized, giving power to those who play it. Coogler goes one step further by portraying blues as a near-magical force that can literally open portals to the supernatural.

3

‘Oldboy’ (2003)

Image via Show East

No other thriller has tested an audience’s perception of reality more than Oldboy. For reasons unknown, a drunken Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is abducted and imprisoned in a sealed room with no communication to the outside world. 15 years have passed, and the now disoriented Dae-su is suddenly returned to society — this time framed for the murder of his wife.

It’s mystery after mystery in Oldboy, but it all boils down to a hyper-specific revenge ploy. Sometimes, death is too swift and merciful a solution — although the movie does boast graphic scenes like the violent hallway fight. Instead, the most effective kind of revenge is one that twists a person’s cognition, leading them to make immoral decisions by their own doing.

4

‘American Psycho’ (2002)

Image via Lionsgate

Corporate gets cold-blooded in American Psycho. Although modern movies like The Wolf of Wall Street show the high-adrenaline rush from working in investment, Christian Bale’s performance as banker Patrick Bateman is much more polished and restrained — but even more deadly. A swanky apartment and a ridiculous salary aren’t enough to fill his empty void, prompting him to find alternative sources of pleasure.

Thus begins the true thesis of American Psycho — the rich aren’t devoid of feeling because they lack material wealth; it’s because they can’t appreciate what they have. Capitalism emphasizes the idea of having more. Unfortunately, the more Bateman tries to gain — whether status, money, or women — the less satisfaction he finds, until he finds something that cannot be bought: the ability to control whether someone lives or dies.

5

‘The Raid’ (2011)

Image via PT Merantau Films

The only thing that’s separating a 20-man SWAT team and one crime lord in The Raid is a 30-story rundown apartment. But like Dante’s nine circles of hell, each level in the building is infested with all sorts of criminals. From drug dealers to machete-wielding killers, rookie officer Rama must conquer the threats on each floor before getting his hands on the feared underworld kingpin, Tama Riyadi.

There is a non-stop, relentless pace that drives The Raid from start to finish. The not-so-fun part about raiding a high-rise building is that there is practically no way of escaping. The hallways are tight and narrow, meaning that any criminal could just jump on Rama from whichever direction, amplifying the anxiety from being only literally one step away from being stabbed by a knife.

6

‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009)

Image via The Weinstein Company

There’s no knowing where a Quentin Tarantino thriller might go, and the in-your-face Inglourious Basterds is as unpredictable as they come. Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) is responsible for his “Basterds,” a crew of Jewish-American soldiers whose job is to infiltrate Nazi spaces and kill them. Somewhere in the French countryside, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) has a personal vendetta against the infamous “Jew Hunter,” Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).

Inglourious Basterds doesn’t skimp on the anxiety of being hunted like helpless prey, and much of that tension comes from Walt’s performance as Landa. Widely regarded as one of cinema’s greatest villains, Waltz plays him as chillingly polite one moment and completely ruthless the next, especially when he suspects he has found a Jew in his presence.

7

‘Parasite’ (2019)

Image via NEON

In Parasite, the resourceful Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) does everything he can to pull his Kim family out of their scrappy, cramped basement apartment. His luck changes when his son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), secures a tutoring position with the affluent Park family. With no proper qualifications, he sweet-talks his way into the job, gradually bringing the rest of his family into the Parks’ lives.

Parasite challenges the audience’s pre-existing notions about the rich versus the poor. While it may seem unethical for the Kim family to manipulate the Parks, they are simply doing what they can to achieve upward mobility. The Parks, on the other hand, appear kind because they have the resources to afford generosity. The film suggests that privilege itself enables the ability to be “nice.”

8

‘Get Out’ (2017)

Image via Universal Pictures

A weekend out of the city goes sideways in Get Out. Black photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) accepts an invitation from his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), to a family gathering at her home in the countryside. Unbeknownst to him, her parents have a horrifying pastime of hypnotizing and lobotomizing Black individuals as a vessel for immortality.

Get Out reimagines how modern-day slavery would take place. The scariest part is that, unlike in the past, with recorded accounts of white masters being viciously cruel, Rose’s family initially welcomes Chris with open arms. This sense of niceness — almost too nice — strikes a nerve, considering that Chris is the only Black person in the countryside with no outside communication.

Image via Searchlight Pictures

Unlike Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay, Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) is cool as a cucumber — the perfect facade to hide his taste for revenge in The Menu. Obnoxious food snob Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) takes his less-than-enthusiastic date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) to a group fine dining experience at Chef Julian’s secluded island restaurant, only for the night to get bloody.

Despite the terror they face from the disillusioned Chef Julian, there’s something darkly funny about paying $1,250 per person only to end up getting killed. Then again, The Menu is about a service industry man’s attempt to get revenge on the entitled guests who have caused him to lose his passion for the simple joy of cooking. The wealthy will pay anything for an “experience,” and that is exactly what they’re going to get.

10

‘The Handmaiden’ (2016)

Image via CJ Entertainment

Nobody can trust anyone in The Handmaiden. Set in Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s, Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri) is appointed as the loyal handmaiden to the Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko. Unlike the tales of cruel masters, Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee) shows nothing but compassion to Sook-hee. Unbeknownst to them, the male powers shadowing over them plan to use them as pawns for material and colonial gains.

The Handmaiden is as much of a period piece and a forbidden romance as it is a thriller. Considering the context of the time, the two leading women, despite their class differences, are no less put into precarious positions. For all its sickening plot twists, the bond between Sook-he and Lady Hideko gives the thriller a strong sense of heart. After all, the two are only trying to escape from their oppression, even if that route requires manipulation.

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The Handmaiden

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Release Date

June 1, 2016

Runtime

145 minutes

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• 
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  Ha Jung-woo

  Count Fujiwara

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  Cho Jin-woong

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  Uncle Kouzuki

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90 Day Fiancé alum Jasmine Pineda has been ordered to pay her ex-husband Gino Palazzolo spousal support after their divorce was finalized.

According to legal documents obtained by Us Weekly on Friday, June 26, the court ordered that Pineda, 39, will need to pay Palazzolo, 57, $20,000 in spousal support.

The documents state that the “defendant shall pay this amount at five hundred dollars ($500) a month for a period of forty (40) months. Spousal support will commence on the first day of the month after the Judgment of Divorce is granted, which is July 1, 2026.”

In the division of assets, it was also stated that in terms of the former couple’s property,  Palazzolo will retain their Canton, MI property, while Pineda gets to keep their home in Dunedin, FL.

The court decided that each party will retain their own clothing, jewelry and personal effects as well as any furniture and furnishings inside their respective properties. Palazzolo will also get to keep the 2015 Ford Explorer.

Related: ’90 Day Fiance’ Star Jasmine Pineda’s Lawyer Speaks Out After Gino Divorce

90 Day Fiancé alum Jasmine Pineda is speaking out after finalizing her divorce from now-ex-husband Gino Palazzolo. “My client has exercised remarkable restraint despite repeated public accusations that we believe are false and damaging. The legal process has concluded, yet the public attacks have not,” Pineda’s lawyer Andrew J. Tahmazian said in a statement to […]

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In response to the legal filing, Palazzolo’s legal representative said Pineda would not receive “one red cent” from Palazzolo.

“Basically in a nut shell my client is a super nice guy he offered from the very beginning for each party to walk away keeping their own property,” the lawyer told Us. “She asked for money she was not entitled to. Then attempted to default him in an out of state court. At which point my client was forced to defend himself. The end result, she’s paying my client money and he is not paying her one red cent.”

Earlier on Friday, Pineda spoke out via her lawyer after the divorce was finalized.

“My client has exercised remarkable restraint despite repeated public accusations that we believe are false and damaging. The legal process has concluded, yet the public attacks have not,” Pineda’s lawyer Andrew J. Tahmazian said in a statement to Us Weekly on Friday. “We are issuing a formal cease-and-desist demand, and if these defamatory statements continue, we are fully prepared to pursue every legal remedy available. Reputation has value, and the law provides recourse when false statements cause harm.”

Pineda’s manager, Dominique Enchinton, also addressed the reality star’s divorce in a statement to Us, “For far too long, Jasmine has been forced to defend herself against a narrative that simply does not align with either the facts or the outcome of this case. The final divorce resolution speaks louder than months of interviews, online commentary, and accusations.”

Enchinton continued, “Jasmine chose peace over prolonged litigation. She honored a settlement so she could close this chapter and focus on her children, her family, and her future. Unfortunately, the continued public attacks have made it necessary to respond. The legal process has concluded, and the outcome speaks for itself. Jasmine is choosing to move forward with grace, dignity, and purpose—not conflict. We are hopeful this chapter has finally come to a close. However, a person’s reputation is invaluable. Should false and defamatory statements continue, we are fully prepared to protect Jasmine’s rights through every appropriate legal avenue. We remain confident that the truth, supported by the facts, will continue to speak for itself.”

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Related: Inside 90 Day Fiance’s Gino Palazzolo and Jasmine Pineda’s Divorce

90 Day Fiancé stars Gino Palazzolo and Jasmine Pineda are still in the middle of a quarrelsome divorce nearly three years after they tied the knot, Us Weekly can exclusively report. Gino, 57, filed docs in July 2025 to legally end their union in Michigan, where the now-exes wed in June 2023, noting they separated […]

Palazzolo and Pineda, met online in 2019 and wed in June 2023. Their relationship was initially documented on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, followed by the flagship show and spinoff 90 Day: The Last Resort.

According to Palazzolo’s July 2025 divorce filing in Michigan, they separated on April 22, 2024. For her part, Pineda filed for divorce from Palazzolo in Florida in August 2025.

Palazzolo and Pineda agreed to have a nonmonogamous relationship — which Palazzolo admitted he later regretted. Pineda began seeing Matt Branistareanu, with whom she welcomed daughter Matilda in March 2025. She also has sons Juance and JC from a previous relationship.

Love Island USA‘s Zach Georgiou used his remaining time in Casa Amor wisely by having fun with Bryce Dettloff.

During the Friday, June 26, episode, Zach got on top of Bryce and mimicked humping him while they were in bed. This came after a past episode where Bryce showed Zach his penis and asked for a “girth check.”

Zach brought it up later, saying, “That f**king snake you got down there.” After Bryce asked for Zach’s opinion on his anatomy, his friend called it “long.”

“It is nearly my f**king boner, that was. I am not going to lie,” Zach added. “That was good s***.”

Love Island USA follows a group of singles who must pair off in order to stay in the show’s luxury villa. The contestants — referred to as Islanders — live in isolation in a villa under constant video surveillance. They must be coupled up to remain on the show and earn a shot at the $100,000 prize.

While the islanders are filming nonstop for weeks, viewers are watching daily episodes and casting votes that affect the couples and the fate of the contestants.

While the Islanders paired off during Day 1, it didn’t take long for those bonds to shift. There was also the arrival of bombshells, who tempted several Islanders to reconsider their connections.

Before viewers tuned in, Peacock issued a message to remind the audience to be kind.

“The Villa runs on good vibes, and so does this community. We love seeing your reactions, opinions, and debates, but everyone deserves to feel safe and respected,” read their statement. “This is a space for fun, not negativity – so keep it kind, keep it positive, and remember: this is LOVE Island!”

Host Ariana Madix has also had to previously issue a message for those Love Island USA viewers who are taking things too far when expressing their frustrations with the show.

“I do want to say something to some of those people who are online,” she said during a June 2025 episode of Aftersun. “Don’t be contacting people’s families. Don’t be doxxing people.”

Ariana questioned the behavior she saw on social media.

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“Don’t be going on islanders’ pages and saying rude things. You still have time to delete all of that because the islanders don’t have their phones,” she noted. “So we are giving you a chance because this is a fun, amazing and beautiful show. We should be thanking each one of these islanders every single day for giving us themselves.”

New episodes of Love Island USA are released six days a week — except for Wednesdays — on Peacock.

Join Us Weekly and Bracketology.tv in our first-ever Love Island USA fantasy league! This is your chance to predict who you think will win Season 8 and rank the Islanders weekly based on how confident you are that they will survive the next elimination. You will be playing against our editors, get access to exclusive content and have the chance to win fun prizes. Sign up for free today!

In the last few years, Jason Statham has been primarily focused on starring in original action movies, but the famous movie star has plenty of experience with franchise work. One of his first big roles that immediately comes to mind is Deckard Shaw, who he’s been playing for years in the Fast & Furious franchise. Statham’s Deckard Shaw was such a hit with fans that he and Dwayne Johnson were recruited to lead the 2019 spin-off film, Hobbs & Shaw, which grossed over $700 million at the global box office. It’s expected that Statham will return and star as Deckard Shaw in the eleventh and final Fast & Furious movie coming to theaters in 2028, and while this has yet to be officially confirmed, it was alluded to in the 2023 blockbuster, Fast X, when he briefly returned.

Another massive franchise role for Statham has been that of Lee Christmas, who he has played in four Expendables movies over the course of nearly 15 years. Back in May, it was reported that a new Expendables movie was in the works, but Statham is not expected to star in the project, as it will focus on an all-female team, shifting the focus away from Statham and other stars like Sylvester Stallone. Following the announcement of the next Expendables movie, fans have been rushing to check out Statham’s final outing as Lee Christmas in droves, which has led Expend4bles back into the global VOD top 10 in a handful of countries around the world. The Expendables 4 is also widely viewed as Statham’s biggest financial misfire — the film grossed only $37 million at the box office against a $100 million budget.

What Is ‘The Expendables 4’ About?

An official synopsis for Expend4bles, which also stars Megan Fox and 50 Cent, reads as follows:

“When the world needs its last line of defense, it calls the Expendables. Barney Ross and Lee Christmas lead their elite crew of mercenaries on a mission to Libya to stop ruthless arms dealer Rahmat from seizing nuclear warheads for a shadowy terrorist known only as Ocelot. But with betrayal from within and a plot to ignite World War III, the old guard and a lethal new generation must unite to save the world — or die trying.”

Expendables 4 is one of the lowest-rated movies of Statham’s career, earning an abysmal 14% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were kinder to the film, rating it a solid 69% on the Popcornmeter.

Check out The Expendables 4 on VOD platforms like Prime Video and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Jason Statham’s future projects.

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Release Date

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September 15, 2023

Runtime

103 minutes

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Writers

Max Adams, Kurt Wimmer, Spenser Cohen, Tad Daggerhart

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Jason Statham, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, Kevin King Templeton, Les Weldon, Yariv Lerner

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By Joshua Tyler
| Published 1 hour ago

There’s been a lot of talk recently about how the big sci-fi franchises are all in trouble. No one’s watching the old standbys anymore; everyone’s upset with them, and none of it makes any sense.

This is a disaster that’s been twenty-four years in the making, and you can trace its roots back to 2002, when Star Trek released Star Trek: Nemesis, a movie meant to be a big send-off for its most beloved cast and crew. A movie that was supposed to take an existing world into a new era of special effects and modern sensibilities. 

Instead, Star Trek: Nemesis ended the franchise and sent Hollywood into a tailspin of recycled failure. And we still haven’t recovered. Maybe sci-fi never will. 

This is why Star Trek: Nemesis failed.

The Worst Script In Star Trek

Star Trek: Nemesis ends with one of the best space battles in science fiction, and the second-best space battle in all of Star Trek, next to that unstoppable banger in Wrath of Khan. It’s a 20-minute, technically proficient masterclass and the only Star Trek space battle that actually takes the time to think about things like real tactics and technical details, such as keeping strong shields toward the enemy and rolling your ship to improve weapons targeting. 

If the rest of the movie were even half this good, then Nemesis would likely have celebrated and extended the Next Generation era of Star Trek, instead of being the final nail in its coffin. But the rest of the movie isn’t this good. It’s not even half this good. 

Star Trek: Nemesis begins with a ridiculous scene in which Captain Picard drives around in a dune buggy wearing safety googles and shooting at random aliens who appear out of nowhere. 

Along the way, Picard finds another Soong android, which they call B4. B4 is basically Data if he had Down syndrome. 

The whole sequence feels like a non-sequitor, and while they do tie it into the plot at the end, it’s shot as if it takes place in a different movie. That may be because it sort of is. 

Part of the story for this movie was dreamed up by actor Brent Spiner as a way to kill off his character. Brent’s ideas involving Data were developed separately from the main plot of the movie and then just sort of shoehorned in.

That main plot, by the way, is the worst thing about Star Trek: Nemesis, and as soon as someone had this as their idea for the movie, the entire project was probably doomed. Maybe a great writer could have saved it with the right kind of script, but John Logan is not a great writer. In fact, he’s a terrible one, and he makes this bad idea worse. 

I know, John Logan has supposedly done good work. He co-wrote movies like Gladiator and Skyfall. But given the garbage he typed out for this movie, I suspect his co-writers may have done most of the heavy lifting.

Logan’s terrible Star Trek: Nemesis script uses a cringe cloning plot in a shallow attempt to rip off Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The Romulans have cloned Jean-Luc Picard for bizarre hand-wave reasons, and then decided not to use that clone for other vague hand-wave reasons, and then, instead of killing that clone, dropped it in a mine for still more vague hand-wave reasons, where it grew up plotting revenge.

Why John Logan Replaced Romulans With Remans

That clone is named Shinzon, and now that he’s all grown up, he’s teamed up with the hideous-looking Reman slaves in the mines to take over the entire Romulan Empire. Why not just make the slaves Romulans instead of inventing this new species of randomoids who live with the Romulans? This was another terrible John Logan idea.

John Logan was tasked with writing a Romulan plot, but he thought Romulans looked boring and wanted to have some sort of obviously monstrous-looking characters. So he invented Remans and replaced the Romulans with his idiotic pet Gargoyles.

I say again: John Logan is not a good writer.

So Shinzon and the Remans take over the entire Romulan Star Empire, and they do it with the willing help of the entire Romulan military. This happens despite the fact that we’re told the Romulans and their military all hate Shinzon, hate Remans even more, and also it obviously means both they and their entire civilization will be totally wiped out by angry hordes of rampaging Reman slaves with absolutely no positive benefits of any kind to anyone involved.

Instead of dealing with these lingering Romulan issues, Shinzon decides he must wipe out all life on the planet Earth. Why? Vague hand-wave. Who knows?

Also, he decides that he must kill Captain Picard, even though Captain Picard has done nothing to him. Also, Shinzon will die unless he can get a living Captain Picard to give him a blood transfusion. 

Captain Picard’s Nap Gets Data Killed

This all culminates in a scene where there’s a one-minute countdown, and if Captain Picard doesn’t stop it, everyone on planet Earth will die. Picard, having defeated Shinzon, spends this minute in which he could be turning the weapon off in quiet contemplation, staring blankly off into space. With ten seconds to go, Data shows up, beams the inexplicably catatonic Picard to safety, and, because thanks to Picard, there’s no longer any time to do anything else, Data randomly shoots the super weapon with a phaser, blowing up both himself and the ship it’s on.

Remember when Spock died in Wrath of Khan? Remember that heart-wrenching funeral with a big crowd of people where Scotty plays the bagpipes, and Kirk starts sobbing and crying over the death of his friend? Don’t worry, the crew of the Enterprise E also holds a funeral to honor their longtime crewmate, friend, and the savior of Earth.

Well, six of them do anyway. They stand around awkwardly in Picard’s ready room for a couple of minutes. They drink a glass of wine, and Jean-Luc makes a vague statement about “absent friends” without mentioning Data’s name.

Riker does tell a very brief anecdote about the first time he met Data, but he doesn’t actually remember what happened, suggesting none of it is important to him. Then everyone gets on with things, and the movie ends.

Why Star Trek: Nemesis Failed

There are a lot of technical, timing, and marketing reasons you could list to explain why Star Trek: Nemesis failed. But the biggest one, the only one that really matters, is the movie’s script. It’s a piece of garbage. 

If you listen to what the cast has to say about the movie, they tend to blame the film’s director, Stuart Baird, for its failure. That’s ridiculous, because everything else about Nemesis is actually kind of great. The production is lavish and beautiful. The space sequences, in particular, are stunning. 

The hand-to-hand combat action bits aren’t at all terrible, especially given that they’re being executed by an elderly, totally out-of-shape cast. That cast does seem a little bored and confused, probably because they have to read lines off John Logan’s terrible script, but they’re all pros and game to do whatever is needed to make this adventure work. 

Everything about Star Trek: Nemesis mostly does work, too. Except for the script. You don’t have a movie without a script. 

Nemesis opened to $18.5 million in North America but collapsed quickly, finishing with only $43.3 million domestically and about $67 million worldwide, against a reported $60 million production budget. That made it the lowest-grossing Star Trek movie of the entire original theatrical era, trailing even the much-maligned Star Trek V. That’s right, it did worse than the one where God needed a starship for a joyride.

As you’d imagine with a script composed primarily of dumpster dive, critics were largely unimpressed. They saw Nemesis as the recycled flotsam that it was. 

Maybe fans would have been more forgiving, but then the movie killed Data and treated his death like someone had just unplugged an old toaster. They were pissed. Fans wanted the heads of everyone involved. And they definitely didn’t want more Star Trek done this way. 

So that was it for the golden age of Star Trek. Nemesis ended it right then and there. Paramount went into full reboot mode, and by 2009, that’s exactly what we got. A reboot. 

No Lessons Were Learned

Of course, if they’d actually listened to any of the criticism being leveled at Nemesis, a reboot is the exact opposite of what they should have done. The main problem everyone had with Nemesis is that it recycled Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. 

So Paramount responded to criticisms of recycled plots by rebooting the franchise and recycling everything Star Trek had ever done for their 2009 movie. Then they specifically recycled Wrath of Khan yet again for the reboot sequel Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Star Trek: Nemesis failed, no lessons of any kind were learned, and Star Trek as a whole was sent spinning off into an increasingly terrible oblivion from which the franchise never recovered.